Research Paper On Edward De Vere

Throughout the last century, a raging phenomenon known as the “Authorship Debate”, has come to light. It disputes whether Shakespeare himself wrote the plays and sonnets or if it was someone else writing under a pseudonym. There are countless theories of who the writer might actually be but the main suspects are Shakespeare himself, Edward de Vere, Sir Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, William Stanley, Roger Manners, Sir Walter Raleigh and Mary Sidney Herbert (Pressley).

There are have been many arguments throughout the history of Shakespearean academia regarding the validity of Shakespeare’s authorship to Titus Andronicus, and the critics have not been shy to express their discontent of its seemingly endless violent montage. As Michael Fentiman and Harold Fuller point out of what Dr. Samuel Johnson spoke to in 1765,

In 1564, a man was born by the name of William Shakespeare. He was born to a poor family, was given little education, and had no interaction with sophisticated society. Thirty-eight plays and over 150 sonnets are not attributed to this ignorant man. Those who believe that Shakespeare was the author have no definitive proof but instead point to Hamlet’s declaration: "The play’s the thing(Satchell 71)." The true author, however, lies hidden behind he name of Shakespeare. Edward de Vere the premier Earl of Oxford is not only considered a great poet in history, but he may also be the great playwright who concocted the sonnets and plays which are now attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford, England.

Among writers and historians, the lack of historical evidence about the life of William Shakespeare has been the main cause of much controversy. Many people doubt that if he was the author of such shocking and transcendental pieces of literature. As a result, the uncertainty that surrounds the authenticity of his persona has increased. Since his childhood, there is no record of Shakespeare attending primary or even university studies. Compared with many other poets and writers his literary training was scarce and his social position was not very favorable to access some kind of help. Many people tend to argue that a man with such a low academic level would be able to possess the rigorous legal, historical and mathematical knowledge that is

One of the most argued cases in history is whether or not William Shakespeare was the one to write his own plays, or if he had someone else write them for him. There are numerous amounts of arguments agreeing that Shakespeare wrote his plays, and then there are numerous amounts disagreeing with his penmanship of “his” plays. According to some sources, Shakespeare was an impractical choice to write such famous works of art due to his lack of traveling, and his lack of education (Hechinge). These theories come into play when explaining that Shakespeare was, indeed, a fraud.

The article was written by Allan Hall, who reviewed the book and gives us an exceptional overview of the author’s own arguments from each chapter. Hall first addresses that Kurt Kreiler, the author of the book, was an established Shakespeare scholar who gives mountains of evidence in his book to prove that we have been revering the wrong man for many centuries. Instead, Kreiler claims that Edward de Vere actually wrote them, by stating that some of de Vere’s well-known works have a strong “Shakespearean style” and also makes clear that there is some sort of connection between Shakespeare and Earl’s nickname- “Spear-shaker.” Kreiler goes on to talk about de Vere’s education in contrast to the lowly-born Shakespeare. De Vere was supposedly

      Abstract:  The debate over the legitimacy of the authorship of Shakespearean works has been disputed for centuries. While many scholars have held beliefs that Shakespeare's works have been written by figures such as Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, William Stanley, and others, the most heated debate today is between William Shakespeare and Edward DeVere, the Earl of Oxford. Each side of this debate has many followers, the Stratfordians, or those who claim Shakespeare to be the true author, and the Oxfordians who believe that true credit should go to DeVere. My paper, far from being a complete analysis of the possibilities of Shakespearean authorship, attempts to summarize and rationalize the

William Shakespeare, by far one of the greatest playwrights of all time, is clouded with controversy. Rumors run rampant that he was nothing more than a non de plume for someone who wished to keep the anonymity of his identity. There have been names such as Edward De Vere the 17th Earl of Oxford, Sir Francis Bacon, even Queen Elizabeth herself was among those thought to be the true writer of the plays and poems.

This quandary is led by the concept of the unrefined man from the Avon (Hastings 479). One of the first arguments that is ever presented against Shakespeare's authorship is his upbringing. It is argued that a peasant from Stratford could have never accomplished such great achievements and could never have acquired such fame (Friedman 1). Furthermore, "The author, it is argued, was a learned and cultivated poet-dramatist, probably a member of the nobility" (Hastings 480). Moreover, the man from Stratford was "an ignorant and illiterate actor, an 'unlettered peasant,' and an 'ignorant boor,'" who has apparently only sent one letter, and perhaps unsure about how to spell his own name. There is even a possibility that Shakespeare did not write English (Friedman 1).

Shakespeare is one of the most famous dramatist and poet in England. His literature works have been translated into more than 80 languages. He is the England's pride, and the world's treasure because he not only helped to shape the English we use today, introducing up to 300 words and dozens of well-known phrases but also wrote plays that are known around the world for their universal themes and insight into the human condition. However historians don’t know his date of birth, where he was educated or how he spent seven years of his life and even the playwright of his play is a mystery.

Who was Shakespeare? Was he a man from Stratford-Upon-Avon who started with little and became the greatest English author to ever live; or was he a privileged Earl who was a favorite at Queen Elizabeth’s court? That is the great mystery. This particular mystery is difficult to solve because of the lack of documentary evidence. The Elizabethans did not believe in getting everything in writing as people do today. Therefore, the truth may never be known with certainty. However, evidence does exist to support at least two theories about the Shakespearean authorship: one that the man from Stratford wrote the works, the other that Edward de Vere the Earl of Oxford was the author. The question then becomes, which

The first case made for Edward De Vere was first made in 1918 by a man named J. Thomas Looney. Looney was a Gateshead schoolmaster and later became famous for his publication of Shakespeare Identified. He first started his research on Shakespeare because he was absolutely convinced that ‘Shakespeare’ was a pseudonym, but he was not convinced that Sir Francis Bacon was the real author. After this realization, Looney went on to make a list of eighteen characteristics the real Shakespeare must have had. Through his research, he decided to search for Elizabethian poets and writers, and that is where he discovered Edward De Vere or the 17th Earl of Oxford. When Looney read De Vere’s poem Women he was finally convinced that he had found the real

Few writers have managed to enter the world-wide public consciousness as well as Shakespeare; everyone knows his name and can terribly misquote his plays. Yet, for all his popularity, many of his critics have called him unlearned, saying his plays are entertaining but shallow. These same critics often point at the many inconsistencies of his writing, claiming that Shakespeare was not trying to convey anything but witticisms and beautiful sounds. Of course, even his harshest detractors acknowledge his plays and sonnets have influenced the world's literature on a scale that is intimidating; every writer of his era stood in his shadow, and modern literature stands on his

Chaucer’s life and writings have made a huge impact on the writings of today’s time. He is often hailed as the father of English poetry. Many writers were influenced by Chaucer, including Shakespeare. “He had an abundance of natural buoyancy which he communicates…On the other hand, he had no gift for tragedy…”1 Chaucer invested most all of his characters with all varieties of human nature . “There are some critics who are not satisfied with {Chaucer’s} poetry unless it exhibits moral values.”2 The Canterbury Tales are incomplete because he probably “…came to realize that the whole scheme was too ambitious.”3 He most likely died before he could finish

William Shakespeare is known to be the “greatest English-speaking writer in history” and an England’s national poet, actor, and an extremely successful playwright. During Shakespeare’s acting career in London, he started writing all about “European geography, culture, and diverse personalities (History.com).” Willm Shakspere or William Shakspeare, as written by him, then went on to write plays. His first three plays were all created around or a little before 1592 and captured the core studied categories; tragedy (Titus Andronicus), comedy (The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy of Errors and The Taming of the Shrew), and history (Henry VI trilogy and Richard III). He wrote plays and sonnets for many theater companies, was one of the main playwrights for the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, which was renamed the King’s Men when James I was in charge, and formed the Globe theater in 1599 with other partners. Shakespeare’s unique language, themes, verses, format, characters, and plots makes his writing universal to every culture and time period. Shakespeare is still taught in school nowadays due to its’ educational and transitional purposes. Shakespeare continues to influence modern-day life and I believe will for a long time to come.